The Investigation And Evaluation Of Non-grain Biodiesel Plants In Xiangxi Region

Biodiesel has received more and more attentions all over the world because of its eco-friendly,clean and renewable in the global energy crisis context.To ensure the farmland and food securities,Chinese government has banned producing biodiesel fuel based on the grain crops.Up to date the proceedings of biofuel industrialization in China is still slow for the shortage of raw material,especially in Xiangxi region,Hunan province.Plant diversity is abundant in Xiangxi region,which provides plenteous raw materials for the research and development of biofuel production from native plant species.Investigating the non-food biodiesel energy plant resources in this region and screening the potential energy plants are of great value for biofuel production.Here firstly on the basis of the field collecting and literature reviewing,the non-grain biodiesel plants resource was documented and analyzed comprehensively.Then potential non-grain biodiesel plants were estimated and screened according to the evaluation criteria for biodiesel.The main results of this research were as follows:(1)There are 262 species in Xiangxi region,belonging to 73 families and 161 genera,of which the oil contents are more than 10%.Families with the most oil-rich species are Lauraceae(25 species),Euphorbiaceae(15 species),Leguminosae(13 species),Rutaceae(12 species),Theaceae(9 species),Celastraceae(7 species),Cucurbitaceae(6 species),Magnoliaceae(6 species),Styracaceae(5 species),Juglandaceae(5 species),etc.These above 10 families count up to 86 species,covering 32.82% of the total number inverstigation.Within the 262 species,212 ones are woody,while the other 50 ones are herbaceous.Areal types of families and genera were multifarious,for the numbers being 10 and 14 respectively.Non-grain biodiesel plants are densely distributed in northeast of Xiangxi region,mainly in the natural reservation,forest park,etc.,just with sparse in southern part.(2)Within the 262 species which seeds were determined for the oil content from the seeds kernel,the oil content of 13 species are higher than 50%,while 21 species ranging from 40-49%,55 species from 30-39%,103 species from 20%-29%,and 77 species from 10%-19%.There are in total 89 species with the oil content higher than 30%,of which the acid value,iodine value,saponification value and linolenic acid content were quantified respectively.The acid value of 56 species is less than 10 mg/g;the iodine vaule of 77 onesis less than 120 mg/100 g;the saponification value of 47 ones ranges from 160-220 mg/g;and 68 species contain less than 12% linolenic acid in the oil.(3)The evaluation standard of non-food biodiesel plants in Xiangxi region were the scores of oil-producing potentiality are greater than or equal to 8,the oil contents are more than or equal to 30%,the acid value is less than 10 mg/g,the iodine vaule are less than 120 mg/100 g,and the linolenic acid contain are less than 12%.According to the evaluation standard,14 species of all 262 species were preliminarily screened.Based on the analytic hierarchy process(AHP)from 8 evaluation index,belonging to three classes i.e.the specie natural property,seed oil physicochemical property and the oil composition content,we evaluated these 14 non-grain biodiesel plants and ranked them as Lindera reflexa > Glochidion puberum > Carya hunanensis > Arctium lappa > Chimonanthus praecox > Pistacia chinensis > Sloanea sinensis > Swida macrophylla > Corylus chinensis > Decaisnea insignis > Trichosanthes kirilowii > Symplocos paniculat > Camellia cuspidate > Koelreuteria bipinnata.Combing the biological traits of these species,we propose that L.reflexa,C.hunanensis,A.lappa,C.praecox,P.chinensis,T.kirilowii and S.paniculat are suitable for the biodiesel development in Xiangxi region,among which four species(L.reflexa,C.hunanensis,P.chinensis and T.kirilowii)show the largest potentiality.(4)The ultrasonic extraction methods of seeds(seeds kernel)oil of Amygdalus persica,Pistacia chinensis,Rhus chinensis,Toxicodendron succedaneum and Camellia pitardii were optimized,respectively.The GC-MS analyses revealed that the major components of unsaturated fatty acids in these species are oleic acid,linoleic acid,palmitic acid and so on.All these plants are also important raw materials for biodiesel production,with much of which potential still to be tapped.